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The Trial I (1986)
Plot Overview Jackie finally gets a copy of her birth certificate and confronts her mother as to why she listed the father an unknown. Dominique has no time to explain as she needs to testify. Dominique does try to find Jackie later to explain but only meets up with Alexis at La Mirage which ends with Dominique quasi-threatening to kill Alexis. Caress is excited because she has turned over the last chapter of Sister Dearest and is expecting a big windfall. But Caress's celebration is short lived as Alexis arrives and informs her inebriated sister that Sister Dearest will never be published because she owns the rights to the book and she will never allow it to see the light of day. This allows Caress to quasi-threaten to kill Alexis. Alexis tells her sister to call her to make good on that threat when she is able to get back on her feet. Dex, who is still lonely without Alexis, goes to some bar to fire a Mr. Hawkins, the foreman on the pipeline project who has been cheating the company. Mr. Hawkins does not seem to be happy about being fired and he is dying to hit Dex. He finally has his opportunity when Dex buys a drink for a very attractive blonde female employee. Dex wins the fight. The lovely blonde offers to take care of Dex's wounds but he turns down the invitation. The trial begins. The first one to the stand is Dominique. She testifies that Tom had disowned Ben because he killed his mother. It seems Ellen Carrington had broken her leg and Tom Carrington was away on business so he told his two sons to care for Ellen. There was an issue in one of the oil fields and Blake went to take care of that. Ben was left behind to care for Ellen, except Ben did not stay with his mother. Instead, Ben went into town to drink and sleep with some woman. While Ben was away, there was a fire and Ellen could not escape and perished in the fire. Ellen would have survived if Ben had been there. Ben's attorney claims that Dominique's story is just triple hearsay and that she only met her father on the day he died and managed to get into the will. Next up is Claudia. She tells about her oil well and testifies that Blake is a kind man as long as you live by his rules and then you will be cut out and Claudia was cut out for marrying Adam. Krystle confronts Claudia afterward and accuse her of just being greedy. Steven is also called to the stand. Steven is going to be forced to testify about the Ted Dinard murder and Blake's custody battle. Steven feels horrible for making Blake look bad on the stand, but Blake understands and supports his son. Ben obviously testifies and agrees with the general details of Ellen's death with one exception. It was Blake who was in town drinking and whoring around while Ben was out on the oil field. Blake lied to Tom and said it was Ben and Tom believed Blake. Ben also has another individual testify that Ben was the one out in the field the day of the fire that killed Ellen. Blake wonders how much Ben paid that man to testify as such. Blake is ready to testify and set the record straight. He testifies that Ben was the one drinking and whoring around when Ellen died. That is why Tom had cut Ben out of the will. Further, Blake could not exert any undue influence on Tom because he was estranged himself from Tom. Alexis is called in Ben's rebuttal and Alexis testifies that she knows that Blake was the one drinking and whoring around the night of Ellen's death because she was the one Blake was having sex with that night. Why did Alexis keep this to herself all these years? Alexis tells she is nothing more than a meek, naive woman who kept the secret for Blake because he promised to marry her if she did. Alexis was manipulated but now she is telling the truth. The judge tells the courtroom that he will be rendering a judgment soon as Alexis walks off triumphant, again. Cast * John Forsythe ... Blake Carrington * Linda Evans ... Krystle Carrington * Gordon Thomson ... Adam Carrington * Pamela Bellwood ... Claudia Blaisdel * Jack Coleman ... Steven Carrington * Michael Nader ... Dex Dexter * Catherine Oxenberg ... Amanda Bedford Carrington * Christopher Cazenove ... Ben Carrington * Kate O'Mara ... Cassandra 'Caress' Morell * Diahann Carroll ... Dominique Deveraux * Joan Collins ... Alexis Colby rest of cast listed by end credits order: * Anthony Zerbe ... Crenshaw * Troy Byer Bailey ... Jackie Deveraux * Tricia O'Neil ... Mrs. Davis * William Traylor ... Dan Franklin * Brion James ... Hawkins * Warren Munson ... Judge Stanley Thurlowe * Greta Blackburn ... Jennifer * Richard Roat ... Creighton * Nigel Bullard ... Reporter #1 * Ralph Clift ... Court Clerk * Jane Downs ... Reporter #2 * Richard Galli ... Young Man * Jim Ishida ... Lin * Ben Marino ... Bailiff * Greg Winfield ... Busboy Crew Produced by * Esther Shapiro .... executive producer * Richard Shapiro .... executive produce * Aaron Spelling .... executive producer * Douglas S. Cramer .... executive producer * E. Duke Vincent .... executive supervising producer * Elaine Rich .... supervising producer * Eileen Pollock .... supervising producer * Robert Pollock .... supervising producer * Edward DeBlasio .... producer * Diana Gould .... producer * Tim King .... associate producer * Ursula Alexander .... assistant producer Info Alert * Heather Locklear does not appear in this episode. * The story outlines of this episode were revised before the script was written. In the original plans, Alexis did not accuse Blake to have slept with him the day his mother died but Ben accused Blake to have built Denver-Carrington up with dirty money. Also, Sammy Jo and Clay were supposed to have a car accident and Sammy Jo was to take the blame for Clay even though he was the one who was driving. Production details * Shooting dates: from 04-Feb-1986 to 12-Feb-1986 (additionnal scenes: February 1986) * Shortened scenes: Amanda and Steven briefly comment Alexis' testimony. * Additional scenes: Dex talks to Lin at the penthouse; Dominique confronts Alexis at La Mirage; Blake and Ben argue in the toilets; Ben phones Alexis (scenes added in post-production probably because this episode was not long enough). * Filming Locations: Warner Hollywood studios; City Hall (Pasadena); Handlebar Saloon (Pasadena). Quotes * Cassandra 'Caress' Morrell: Alexis has always been public property. Just ask her husbands. * Alexis Carrington Colby Dexter: I've come to ask you for your autograph. Congratulations. Sister Dearest is a wonderful piece of fiction. Cassandra 'Caress' Morrell [though drunk, bolts right up at the news, about to wet her pants]: You mean you've read it? Alexis Carrington Colby Dexter: Well, of course I've read it. It doesn't take very long. It's like a comic book without the pictures.